- Fig 1. Currently trying to do manual building rather than willy-nilly putting zones and letting the auto-build do the rest... Been putting this off for a while now until last week. (It's fun...)
I mean, a game about building your own city, where you could put almost anything from buildings, to ships, to Minecraft Creepers and whatever wonky or cool stuff that you can find within the plug-in store? The me in 2020 really loved that. I was quite surprised and ecstatic when a user (named @michaelbello123) made a statue of Reginald's stand named "Bottled Time" from Completing the Mission (part of The Henry Stickmin [sic] Collection.) It was fun experiencing that.
Now, much like with all of the other players, we've left... Mostly around 2024, when the world opened up again, we eventually had to go back to whatever obligation we had back then. I seldomly played TheoTown from time to time... But never ended up getting back to it...
Then in the summer of 2025 (April 28 to be specific,) I decided to try and make a plug-in... Didn't know what I was doing, and left it at that until February 2026. Went back again with a bit of knowledge this time... After trial and error, I managed to make Gold Magnet from PvZ... My first plug-in (unfortunately, it doesn't collect money, so it's just a set piece.)
But, that didn't stop me from continuing to make my next plug-in, which will be the first plug-in I ever posted to the store: Coffee Galore. Big cups of coffee being brewed, just to pump it through the town 24/7? Yep, that's what I want in a plug-in! I like bringing absurd concepts to reality... It's my favorite genre of humor.
As I kept going on, especially when summer came, I used that time to make a few things that I'd like to place in my city... And maybe you could too!
Notable Experiences Where I Learned:
- Animation vs. TheoTown — Learned how to utilize templates and custom categories. (Actually, it might be the only plug-in I have that uses it... For now!)
- Potato Mine — How to implement your own animations, (same with Coffee Galore's water vapor.)
- Sunflower — Where I've finally switched from taking frames one by one, to putting it in a single strip like a film.
- Posting to the store, learning how min versions work... And why you'd see Doom Shroom is listed, but it doesn't show up until the versions hit 1.22.66 (will be unseen for a LONG TIME.) Shoutout to @PBbunnypower for helping me out on that one.
- Learning "performance: true" after my initial submission for Potato Power Plant, (also the plug-in that got sent back many times until it was approved about yesterday or many hours ago,) got disapproved.
- Texture space... Learned it after Lobby's comments on my submissions' thumbnails being so big. (Save texture space, please.)
Yeah, I learned a lot about making plug-ins. I'd like to tackle upgrades at some point, but that's a bit too much and I got obligations to fulfill.
But I still got a lot more (silly) plug-in ideas to realize into the game... I just need a proper time to do so. (Currently uploading a simple plug-in of a milk carton acting as a tower of beverage.)
Now looking here from the present, the past me would be somewhat impressed and laughing a bit (I think.) I'd also like to give a hug to my past and future selves at some point in my life, no matter what comes next... I'd like to comfort them, being kind to myself.
Well, I guess that's all I got for my reflection on my years I spent with TheoTown. Many years to come, and I love this game... So much.
Have a great day ahead, fellow users and players! Please don't let this be simply a memory.
That’s a great milestone, and it’s nice to see you taking the time to reflect on your journey with TheoTown. Hopefully there will be many more posts, ideas, and builds to come.